Fishing of mackerel

Mackerel are small members of the tuna family, and are great fish on a fly rod. Because most mackerel have small mouths and teeth, they prefer smaller baitfish, which makes them the perfect fly rod fish.

Mackerel may be taken in pound traps or with gill nets, but by far the greatest quantities are taken with purse seines.

The principle of purse seining is to surround fish shoals by large net that can be closed so that the fish cannot escape. When the net is hauled back, the fish will become concentrated in a bag ready for brailing or pumping onboard.

If the boat is to remand out of port after the fish caught they are held in ice in the round, uneviscerated state.
Fishing of mackerel

Fishing tuna

At one time, fishing for tuna was carried out exclusively with pole lines. The pole lines are the traditional method and a cotton line with a barbless small fish-shaped hook attached to it is used.

Live bait is carried in a big tank on deck and these small fish are thrown overboard to attract schools of tuna when on the fishing grounds. Once tuna begin to strike, the crew starts fishing with poles and lines using a feather lure that contains a barbless hook.

Today tuna are mainly caught with purse seines which, due to the size of the fish, are made with heavy twine.

Catching tuna with purse seines is the most efficient method currently available. The catches of tunas by purse seines have increased rapidly since the early 1980s and large part of this increase has been due to increased used of fish –aggregating devices.

Some tuna may still be taken with pole lines and some with troll lines. In the Pacific, about 70 percent of the catch of principle market tuna is taken by purse seiners, 10 percent by pole and line and 8 percent by long-lines. In the Indian Ocean, these values are 45, 15 and 20 percent.
Fishing tuna

The Sea Herring

The Sea Herring
Among the various categories of fish used by humans for food, one of the most important is the family Clupeidae comprising pelagic species that travel in groups or schools near the ocean surface.

In the United States sea herring are found in ocean waters from Alaska to the state of Washington on the West Coast, and from Labrador to Cape Hatteras on the East Coast.

Sea herring are plankton feeders, eating the various microscopic plants and animals (diatoms, larvae of various shellfish, etc) when very young and, as adults, eating small shrimp, small fish, and so on. When unmolested, the sea herring may live to an age of 20 years or more.

Most sea herring are caught with purse seines, but some are caught with pound traps or weirs (similar to pound traps but constructed with poles and brush). Gill nets are sometimes used to catch these fish.
The Sea Herring